OPPO F3 officially launched in Kenya, starts selling on May 23rd

The anticipated Kenyan unveiling of OPPO’s newest smartphone, the OPPO F3, happened today at a colourful event held in Nairobi.

The device’s key selling points, as previously noted, are the two selfie cameras located on its front. The two, one a 16-megapixel shooter for “high-quality selfies with beautification technology” and another an 8-megapixel snapper with a wide-angle lens for wide-angle selfies, are the device’s signature features that OPPO Kenya hopes will capture the imagination of the Kenyan smartphone that is highly competitive.

We have seen, recently, the unveiling of similar camera-focused mid-range devices from other Chinese device makers most notably Hong Kong-based Transsion Holdings group that includes the Tecno and Infinix device brands.

Tecno’s Camon CX smartphone, part of the camera centred Camon lineup of devices, packs a pair of 16-megapixel shooters on the front and the back in addition to a four-ring LED flash at the back. On the other hand, Infinix’s latest device, the Infinix S2 Pro (read the review), features a similar camera setup as OPPO’s F3.

Huawei unveiled its own camera-centred mid-range smartphone, the GR5 2017, back in February. The GR5 2017 is one of the few mid-range devices that implement a dual-camera setup at the back.

“With the release of the camera phone in the Kenyan market, OPPO which has now been ranked fourth globally by market share and earned the No. 1 spot in China for two recent quarters, seeks to replicate the success in Kenya which is one of its stronghold by introducing products that never fail to inspire and excite,” reads a statement from the company.

The OPPO F3 will start selling in Kenya on Tuesday, May 23rd. For now, interested buyers can pre-order the device at various retail stores across the country. A spot check I conducted on Sunday evening at some shops in Nairobi indicated that a number of shops in the city were already accepting pre-orders ahead of today’s launch.

The OPPO F3 will cost Kshs 33,000, a price tag that puts it at par with the Huawei GR5 2017’s asking price when it launched and way ahead of the sub-Kshs 20,000 Tecno Camon CX and Infinix S2 Pro.